Tag Archives: childcare

Yesterday I watched the one 7yo and her 2yo and 1yo siblings for the last time. I knew the day would come and was just around the corner but still it came up on us so suddenly.

Their mom’s story is not mine to share, but because she works and has 3 kids she can get some assistance. Aside from food stamps she also qualifies for help in the form of vouchers for childcare. I made an attempt to get certified as a type B provider in my county so I could accept vouchers for payment. What a ridiculous series of hoops to jump through and hurdles to clear!! I have no issue with criminal background checks, I don’t even have a parking ticket to my name. But the other things you must do, classes that must be taken (never mind that I raised 2 kids of my own, 1 step daughter for years part time and was a kinship foster care mom for 4 kids for 1 year and MIGHT have a clue how to do this gig), it is all insane and next to impossible to achieve. It was silly for the mama to work just to pay me for watching her kids, which is about all she was doing as there wasn’t much left each week after paying for childcare and I wasn’t even charging what I would have for someone that wasn’t already holding one of the crappiest hands of fate cards I’ve ever seen.

The daycare job came at a time when we both needed each other. The company I was working for was sinking fast despite the band playing on the deck like nothing was happening. As the office manager I was privy to our accounts payable and receivable and the writing was in bold, uppercase red letters on the wall. I got out just before the economy devoured that place and there I was once again out of work. I was looking but frankly couldn’t face the idea of going back into corporate America, I wanted to work from home. Once mom and I brain stormed it we realized that me babysitting might be the best route. It left me home to work as I wanted, was enough money and I could start working Avon. Win/win all around as I was able to tackle Mt. Washmore and other stuff around the house. My mom of 3 had just had their white picket fence world turned completely on end and shattered. For what her 7 year old endured at the hands of a man she called “daddy”, well I just hope there is a special place in the pits of hell for him.

It was a wonderful situation for the kids, mom had piece of mind and since April they’ve been a part of my life. I’ve watched one come out of her shell, one become easier to understand as he learned to talk, and one go from not able to sit up on her own to walking. Yesterday I watched the 7yo’s heart break when she found out it was their last day with Miss Marti. I felt a crack or two in my own.

Today it is just me and the 5 month old. The house is so QUIET. I didn’t realize just how much I did until I’m sitting here not doing it. There is more time to conquer the laundry, hold and rock the baby (heaven help her parents she is about to be even more spoiled rotten!), dishes, cleaning, social media, blogging and games. I realized that I can stick the baby in a car seat now that it is just us during the day and run errands, or work the Avon business with her cute little self “helping” me. The other 7yo, the baby’s cousin, is only here for about 15-30 minutes in the morning and then 2 hours tops after school.

I’m praying the Avon works out well and that I won’t need to take on more kids so I have more time for the baby and for ME.

It has been a busy morning so far. The alarm sounded at 6am, I have finally found a tone on my phone alarm that is at least pleasant and not horribly rude. My Droid has a desk cradle for the phone that makes it a clock when it is docked and charging. I love it. One glance and I see the time in a huge font, the current outside temp and weather conditions and if I have any emails or text messages. I love technology!

I got up, made the bed (the one thing I am totally OCD about is immediately making my bed and keeping my bedroom in order), went down and started coffee, then hit the shower. Once ready to roll I headed over to the home of the little ones I currently care for during the day. It was late start day for the 7 year old at school, and she went to an amusement park for a picnic last night so I offered to go there this morning so she could sleep in and mom could leave directly from home. I remember those days with one child to get out the door, so since I would have to go that way to take the 7yo to school it just made sense.

I fed the 3 darlings (and I do mean that, they are great, adorable kids), 9 months, 2 years old and the 7 year old. Next got everyone dressed, grabbed the last cup 0f coffee (mama made extra, thanks mama!) and we headed to school. After dropping off Princess Smiles A Lot I headed to the credit union to deposit my ‘check’ from last week (I feel for mama, getting 2 little ones out of the car, into the bank and back out and into car seats is a chore!) and then headed to my house. Little Miss Thang was sleepy so first order of business, after I set up the family room for playing (moving the coffee table, dragging out the toys, putting up safety gates and turning on Mickey’s Club House) was getting her cute little self changed and to bed for her morning nap. Mr. Man settled in to play and I started my chores. I cleaned up the kitchen, emptied and reloaded the dishwasher and cleaned the litter box. Now enjoying a fresh cup of Caramel Truffle coffee while I write and wait for Diva Sarah to emerge so I can start laundry.

Last night when I needed the tool chest to change out my license plates (figured that was best since they expired and the last thing I needed the first of the month is a ticket), my sister, Diva Boo, took over. She is our do-it-yourself Diva, with power tools. She said since I do her laundry it is the least she can do. I love my sister! I am SO not the DIY type at all when it comes to tools and handy man type work. Though I never felt I was very domestic either, but mom had faith those skills were in there somewhere. Low and behold, they were! I am little Ms. Domestic Diva, can cook, clean, do laundry, maintain the household and care for kids. I am even amazing myself. At first I didn’t think so, but now I realize just how much I actually DO contribute to the household by handling many of the domestic chores. It only makes sense since I am home, right? And childcare is becoming my favorite job so far in life, it is far more rewarding than anything else I have done, and reasonably profitable as well.

The Avon is slowly but steadily taking off and growing. I knew this would take time and hard work, but I am not real patient, I want to be a senior executive unit leader NOW! The money one can make selling cosmetics is just amazing to me, and it too is very rewarding. Just a lot of work but then it is it’s own full time job if one wants to make a lot of money. And I do! The potential is realistically there to clear 6 figures annually within just a few years, so my motivation is totally up! The best part is many friends across the country can be customers thanks to having an eStore! They can view the full brochure right on my site (or I can mail it to them!). If you don’t have a Avon rep, or haven’t seen a brochure, I invite you to click the “I’m The Avon Lady” button on my sidebar and check out the eBrochure. For $30 and over shipping is free. Shameless plug: Please, visit my Avon page and feel free to look around and have it directly shipped to you by paying online with a credit card.

Okay, baby is now awake (thanks to the weather radio weekly test I forgot about and didn’t turn the radio down) and the laundry is started. Second cup of coffee poured into my Crazy Cat Lady mug, a hug from the toddler and giggles from the baby. At the end of the day, the little ones will go home, and I’ll put away all evidence that they were even here, until tomorrow morning when we start all over again!🙂

Like this:

If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?

There is no ‘if’ about it, life is short. It seems like just yesterday I was changing my son’s diaper, newly divorced and in the role of single mother. Today he pushing is 27 years old, carries a gun and puts his life on the line as a cop. I swear I blinked and went from protecting him to him protecting others.

So why DO we do so many things we don’t like, and like so many things we don’t do? In a word: FEAR.

Many times I stayed employed in a job that I did not like because it was stable, the pay was good, and I had medical insurance. There were countless benefits that were unseen too, like free parking, location etc. I transitioned through many positions within the 26 years at the company, some I really liked, others I didn’t care for at all, and some I was simply content. I feared leaving because there were too many ‘what ifs’ associated with leaving and trying something new. It wasn’t until I was let go during a down sizing that I was forced to look for something new. And the next two positions were similar in nature, still stuck in a rut of doing what I knew I could rather than going after something that I thought I wanted to do but was unsure. There was also much negative feedback associated with my occasional mentions of what I wanted to try doing.

After the next two jobs bit the dust, one was a seasonal lay off, the other the company just went under and I bailed when I saw the writing on the wall, I was forced to make some choices about my employment. I was brain storming with my mom one Saturday morning, before the rest of the Divas were up and about, and I brought up childcare. I really do love kids! I am not really a domestic type, never got the joy of being the stay at home mom I had dreamed of, but I still knew enough to know that watching children can be profitable, very profitable. And then there is also Avon, something I very much wanted to sell. I had taken a stab at it when my kids were little, and did it all wrong. Now the corporation provides so much in the line of training that it is hard not to succeed.

Being home during the day watching children gives me a lot of opportunity to write, read, work the Avon business, and do something I very much enjoy, being a stay at home ‘mom’ of sorts. I enjoy taking care of the kids a lot! And I can pitch in around the house more, cleaning, doing dishes, and tackling Mt. Washmore, the Diva’s ever growing laundry pile. It did take some initial adjustment, which worked well in the beginning as I only had the kids two days a week, then three, then four and now all five weekdays. I eased into this and now I have a solid routine down. It really works out well.

Avon allows me to do sales, something I have always wanted to try my hand at but never thought I had what it took. And the product line is something I very much believe in. I try the items that I recommend, and only recommend them if I really do like them. I even started another blog page, I Sell Lipstick – Chronicles of an Avon Lady to not only share my adventures in this business but to review and give away products as I try them myself.

I also do some side work when needed for a friend that has an insurance business, to keep the office skills up to date.

I still do not have medical insurance, but I am working with the agent friend to get a major medical policy in place and dental. First I had bills that needed catching up from being without a paycheck.

Which brings me to another reason we tend to do things we don’t like, and avoid doing things we do like: other people’s opinions.

It is easy to become discouraged when others close to us have issues with what it is we are doing or want to do. We write our dream off as a bad idea and stay where we are not happy. For me, it was a deal breaker in a relationship with a guy that I really saw so much potential with for a possible life partner. I wasn’t getting a ‘regular paycheck’ from anyone. I think it had a lot to do with my not being ‘kept’ by that one, never mind that I get paid weekly, quite regularly and the same amount each time. But that was an eye opener to me.

I’ve been employed in positions where I hated getting up and going to work each day. I was moody, unhappy and most unpleasant to be around. So many wasted years getting up and doing something I did not at all care for when I could have been doing something I really enjoyed. I don’t care what you do for a living, as long as you pay your bills and you ENJOY what you do! You cannot get back the time that is wasted in a very unhappy career. No, not going to change what I do to make someone else feel happy and secure with me. I love what I do, I am singing in the shower, humming and singing while putting on my make-up for the day, I enjoy being a daycare provider! I enjoy cleaning the house and doing the laundry (dear gawd did I just really say that?? THE UNDOMESTIC GODDESS LIKES BEING DOMESTIC???). I love selling Avon and plan to make that one helluva living too! I don’t care what you do, be it a teacher, cop, firefighter, sanitation worker, stable cleaner, auto mechanic…if you enjoy what you do, if you are happy getting up and going to work each day, and we hit it off, then I accept you as you are, package deal. If we don’t hit it off, I will cheer you on in what you love, because life is entirely TOO short not to do what makes you happy!

I am now doing what I enjoy, and ever so thankful I finally took the risk and went for it!

Welcome to Wine & Cheese, my weekly, Wednesday whine session.

Every week on Wednesday I devote a blog to whining. Despite being a really happy, positive person, I do have things that annoy me at times.

I never let anything grate on my nerves for long but thought it would be fun to vent them periodically in my blogs.

I also feel that good things, the cheese in life, should be acknowledged as well.

I’m even going to throw in a bit of dessert, a piece of virtual chocolate, something that made me laugh or smile just a bit more than normal.

If you’d like to read the past editions of Wine & Cheese just click HERE for all of the past postings.

Sit back and join me now for the 32nd serving of some wine and cheese!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

WHINE =😦

CHEESE =🙂

~*~

:( sigh…yep, still raining. Oh and here it is May 4th, and we have the heat back on in the house, and a frost warning for tonight. Really??? I mean, I know they say don’t plant before Mother’s Day because it could happen, but honestly 3 days before? And we’ve had temps in the 70’s this spring so far. I am SO tired of being stuck inside. I want to go to the Reds game and remain dry, take the kids outside to play, feel the sunshine on my skin and be WARM doing it!

:( People who read too much into Facebook status updates, take them too literally or seriously. Really people, if you don’t care for what someone posts, either hide their feed, block them, unfriend them, or move on. It is not necessary to get into a 10 paragraph, 30 comment debate about things, especially political, when it is something obviously copied/pasted all over. Get over yourselves. And just because I post that I’m running down the street naked singing “I am a pretty pink hippo, watch me fly!” does NOT mean I am a candidate for a psychiatric emergency…

:) Ladies night at the pub! Last night my sister and I hit the local pub for a few beers. My cousin showed up, and my BFF who I had not seen in forever, my son, his girlfriend and another friend of theirs. We had a blast, and as usual my son had us laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe. The sing along to Dean Martin songs was fun too.

:) Babies….gotta love ’em. Just when I think I am ready to scream from the silly songs in the goofy kiddie shows, I get an unexpected hug from the toddler or a big grin from the baby. Almost as good as being a grandma, this babysitting thing. Guess this is paid practice for those days? Still loving this new found way of earning a living.

Welcome to Wine & Cheese, my weekly, Wednesday whine session.

Every week on Wednesday I devote a blog to whining. Despite being a really happy, positive person, I do have things that annoy me at times.

I never let anything grate on my nerves for long but thought it would be fun to vent them periodically in my blogs.

I also feel that good things, the cheese in life, should be acknowledged as well.

I’m even going to throw in a bit of dessert, a piece of virtual chocolate, something that made me laugh or smile just a bit more than normal.

If you’d like to read the past editions of Wine & Cheese just click HERE for all of the past postings.

Sit back and join me now for the 31st serving of some wine and cheese!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

WHINE =😦

CHEESE =🙂

~*~

:( Okay, I am SO over the rain. I realize that everyone in my general area is likely whining about this, but too bad, so sad, it is my post and I’m in a mood today. I AM SICK OF RAIN!!! SICK of being stuck inside with these adorable kids that just want to be outside. I am sick to death of wading through a huge puddle to get anywhere once I leave the car. I am sick of wondering if the puddle ahead of me on the road is going to be more high water than my car can safely maneuver through. I am beyond tired of being woken up by thunderstorms all night. The weather radio doesn’t even phase me anymore I hit it and roll back over. I am fed up with it all. Okay, I feel much better now.

:) I am having SO much fun doing this daycare thing. I have the cutest kids to watch and they are entertaining. Not to mention I’ve lost 5 pounds already just chasing and lugging around the 2 year old. It isn’t the ideal job for my line of skills, but for now it is paying my bills and keeping me amused.

DESSERT

Deadline: an arbitrary moment responsible for creating the fine line between a paycheck and a pink slip. (From Daffynitions Twitter Feed)

Like this:

It is Monday, and back to the daily grind for many. It is my first real, full day of ‘work’ at the new professions for me.

I’m getting a taste of what the childcare experience will be and frankly if they are all like this great little girl I think I’d love it. She is about to be 6yo and a total joy, with a contagious giggle. I only have her today as her school is off and her mommy is working. Come fall I will have one new born for sure and hopefully several more little ones in my care. I need to advertise and get some children to care for, I could get used to this quickly. Already showered, made my bed and have the dishwasher unloaded and reloaded, breakfast made and cleaned up, most of which was done before my little charge arrived.

All weekend I was hooking my heart out on 2 blankets I was commissioned to make. I’m almost finished with those then on to the next. Mom was gone for the weekend and the girls were out so it was a sister weekend with hooks and coffee, and a lot of laughs. I really enjoyed it and will miss my sister during the day!!

Been working the Avon business and have several customers and orders already. 2 of them online, which of course I think rocks because they will get their products shipped so quickly. Not to mention I love technology and the ability to shop online means I have potential customers all over the country! *Shameless plug – orders over $30 (today is the final day of campaign 7 with this offer) ship for FREE! My Avon Site so take advantage of that!*

I hosted my first give away over the weekend, and a winner was chosen from the entries. Thanks to all who participated, I’ll be doing that again soon!